Acts 10-11:1-18
Part 1, Section 1, Chapter 2, Article 2, SubSection 3, Heading 2 87 Mindful of Christ's words to his apostles: "He who hears you, hears me", 49 the faithful receive with docility the teachings and directives that their pastors give them in different forms. Part 1, Section 2, Chapter 2, Article 2, SubSection 3 443 Peter could recognize the transcendent character of the Messiah's divine sonship because Jesus had clearly allowed it to be so understood. To his accusers' question before the Sanhedrin, "Are you the Son of God, then?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am." 50 Well before this, Jesus referred to himself as "the Son" who knows the Father, as distinct from the "servants" God had earlier sent to his people; he is superior even to the angels. 51 He distinguished his sonship from that of his disciples by never saying "our Father", except to command them: "You, then, pray like this: 'Our Father'", and he emphasized this distinction, saying "my Father and your Father". 52 Part 1, Section 2, Chapter 2, Article 3, Paragraph 3, SubSection 1, Heading 2 520 In all of his life Jesus presents himself as our model. He is "the perfect man", 191 who invites us to become his disciples and follow him. In humbling himself, he has given us an example to imitate, through his prayer he draws us to pray, and by his poverty he calls us to accept freely the privation and persecutions that may come our way. 192 Part 1, Section 2, Chapter 3, Article 8, SubSection 4, Heading 3 728 Jesus does not reveal the Holy Spirit fully, until he himself has been glorified through his Death and Resurrection. Nevertheless, little by little he alludes to him even in his teaching of the multitudes, as when he reveals that his own flesh will be food for the life of the world. 110 He also alludes to the Spirit in speaking to Nicodemus, 111 to the Samaritan woman, 112 and to those who take part in the feast of Tabernacles. 113 To his disciples he speaks openly of the Spirit in connection with prayer 114 and with the witness they will have to bear. 115 Part 1, Section 2, Chapter 3, Article 9, Paragraph 1, SubSection 2, Heading 4 765 The Lord Jesus endowed his community with a structure that will remain until the Kingdom is fully achieved. Before all else there is the choice of the Twelve with Peter as their head. 168 Representing the twelve tribes of Israel, they are the foundation stones of the new Jerusalem. 169 The Twelve and the other disciples share in Christ's mission and his power, but also in his lot. 170 By all his actions, Christ prepares and builds his Church. Part 1, Section 2, Chapter 3, Article 9, Paragraph 2, SubSection 2, Heading 1 787 From the beginning, Jesus associated his disciples with his own life, revealed the mystery of the Kingdom to them, and gave them a share in his mission, joy, and sufferings. 215 Jesus spoke of a still more intimate communion between him and those who would follow him: "Abide in me, and I in you.... I am the vine, you are the branches." 216 And he proclaimed a mysterious and real communion between his own body and ours: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him." 217 Part 1, Section 2, Chapter 3, Article 9, Paragraph 3, SubSection 4, Heading 1 858 Jesus is the Father's Emissary. From the beginning of his ministry, he "called to him those whom he desired; .... And he appointed twelve, whom also he named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to preach." 368 From then on, they would also be his "emissaries" (Greek apostoloi). In them, Christ continues his own mission: "As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." 369 The apostles' ministry is the continuation of his mission; Jesus said to the Twelve: "he who receives you receives me." 370 Part 2, Section 1, Chapter 1, Article 1, SubSection 1 1083 The dual dimension of the Christian liturgy as a response of faith and love to the spiritual blessings the Father bestows on us is thus evident. On the one hand, the Church, united with her Lord and "in the Holy Spirit," 5 blesses the Father "for his inexpressible gift 6 in her adoration, praise, and thanksgiving. On the other hand, until the consummation of God's plan, the Church never ceases to present to the Father the offering of his own gifts and to beg him to send the Holy Spirit upon that offering, upon herself, upon the faithful, and upon the whole world, so that through communion in the death and resurrection of Christ the Priest, and by the power of the Spirit, these divine blessings will bring forth the fruits of life "to the praise of his glorious grace." 7 Part 2, Section 2, Chapter 1, Article 2, SubSection 2 1293 In treating the rite of Confirmation, it is fitting to consider the sign of anointing and what it signifies and imprints: a spiritual seal. Anointing, in Biblical and other ancient symbolism, is rich in meaning: oil is a sign of abundance and joy; 103 it cleanses (anointing before and after a bath) and limbers (the anointing of athletes and wrestlers); oil is a sign of healing, since it is soothing to bruises and wounds; 104 and it makes radiant with beauty, health, and strength. Part 2, Section 2, Chapter 2, Article 4, SubSection 2 1425 "You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." 9 One must appreciate the magnitude of the gift God has given us in the sacraments of Christian initiation in order to grasp the degree to which sin is excluded for him who has "put on Christ." 10 But the apostle John also says: "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." 11 And the Lord himself taught us to pray: "Forgive us our trespasses," 12 linking our forgiveness of one another's offenses to the forgiveness of our sins that God will grant us. Part 3, Section 1, Chapter 1, Article 7, SubSection 2, Heading 3 1825 Christ died out of love for us, while we were still "enemies." 100 The Lord asks us to love as he does, even our enemies, to make ourselves the neighbor of those farthest away, and to love children and the poor as Christ himself. 101 The Apostle Paul has given an incomparable depiction of charity: "charity is patient and kind, charity is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Charity does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Charity bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." 102 Part 3, Section 2, Chapter 1 2083 Jesus summed up man's duties toward God in this saying: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." 1 This immediately echoes the solemn call: "Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD." 2 God has loved us first. The love of the One God is recalled in the first of the "ten words." The commandments then make explicit the response of love that man is called to give to his God. Part 3, Section 2, Chapter 1, Article 1, SubSection 3, Heading 4 2122 The minister should ask nothing for the administration of the sacraments beyond the offerings defined by the competent authority, always being careful that the needy are not deprived of the help of the sacraments because of their poverty." 56 The competent authority determines these "offerings" in accordance with the principle that the Christian people ought to contribute to the support of the Church's ministers. "The laborer deserves his food." 57 Part 4, Section 1, Chapter 1, Article 2, Heading 1 2601 "He was praying in a certain place and when he had ceased, one of his disciples said to him, 'Lord, teach us to pray."' 45 In seeing the Master at prayer the disciple of Christ also wants to pray. By contemplating and hearing the Son, the master of prayer, the children learn to pray to the Father. Part 4, Section 1, Chapter 1, Article 2, Heading 1 2603 The evangelists have preserved two more explicit prayers offered by Christ during his public ministry. Each begins with thanksgiving. In the first, Jesus confesses the Father, acknowledges, and blesses him because he has hidden the mysteries of the Kingdom from those who think themselves learned and has revealed them to infants, the poor of the Beatitudes. 48 His exclamation, "Yes, Father!" expresses the depth of his heart, his adherence to the Father's "good pleasure," echoing his mother's Fiat at the time of his conception and prefiguring what he will say to the Father in his agony. The whole prayer of Jesus is contained in this loving adherence of his human heart to the mystery of the will of the Father. 49 Part 4, Section 1, Chapter 1, Article 2, Heading 2 2611 The prayer of faith consists not only in saying "Lord, Lord," but in disposing the heart to do the will of the Father. 70 Jesus calls his disciples to bring into their prayer this concern for cooperating with the divine plan. 71 Part 4, Section 1, Chapter 1, Article 2, Heading 2 2613 Three principal parables on prayer are transmitted to us by St. Luke: - The first, "the importunate friend," 75 invites us to urgent prayer: "Knock, and it will be opened to you." To the one who prays like this, the heavenly Father will "give whatever he needs," and above all the Holy Spirit who contains all gifts. - The second, "the importunate widow," 76 is centered on one of the qualities of prayer: it is necessary to pray always without ceasing and with the patience of faith. "And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" - The third parable, "the Pharisee and the tax collector," 77 concerns the humility of the heart that prays. "God, be merciful to me a sinner!" The Church continues to make this prayer its own: Kyrie eleison! Part 4, Section 1, Chapter 1, Article 3 2623 On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit of the Promise was poured out on the disciples, gathered "together in one place." 92 While awaiting the Spirit, "all these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer." 93 The Spirit who teaches the Church and recalls for her everything that Jesus said 94 was also to form her in the life of prayer. Part 4, Section 1, Chapter 1, Article 3, SubSection 2 2632 Christian petition is centered on the desire and search for the Kingdom to come, in keeping with the teaching of Christ. 107 There is a hierarchy in these petitions: we pray first for the Kingdom, then for what is necessary to welcome it and cooperate with its coming. This collaboration with the mission of Christ and the Holy Spirit, which is now that of the Church, is the object of the prayer of the apostolic community. 108 It is the prayer of Paul, the apostle par excellence, which reveals to us how the divine solicitude for all the churches ought to inspire Christian prayer. 109 By prayer every baptized person works for the coming of the Kingdom. Part 4, Section 1, Chapter 2, Article 2, Heading 3 2671 The traditional form of petition to the Holy Spirit is to invoke the Father through Christ our Lord to give us the Consoler Spirit. 23 Jesus insists on this petition to be made in his name at the very moment when he promises the gift of the Spirit of Truth. 24 But the simplest and most direct prayer is also traditional, "Come, Holy Spirit," and every liturgical tradition has developed it in antiphons and hymns. Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love. 25 Heavenly King, Consoler Spirit, Spirit of Truth, present everywhere and filling all things, treasure of all good and source of all life, come dwell in us, cleanse and save us, you who are All Good. 26 Part 4, Section 2, Heading 1 2759 Jesus "was praying at a certain place, and when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him, 'Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.'" 1 In response to this request the Lord entrusts to his disciples and to his Church the fundamental Christian prayer. St. Luke presents a brief text of five petitions, 2 while St. Matthew gives a more developed version of seven petitions. 3 The liturgical tradition of the Church has retained St. Matthew's text: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Part 4, Section 2, Article 1 2761 The Lord's Prayer "is truly the summary of the whole gospel." 7 "Since the Lord . . . after handing over the practice of prayer, said elsewhere, 'Ask and you will receive,' and since everyone has petitions which are peculiar to his circumstances, the regular and appropriate prayer Lord's Prayer is said first, as the foundation of further desires." 8 Part 4, Section 2, Article 1, SubSection 3 Part 4, Section 2, Article 3, SubSection 3 2822 Our Father "desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." 95 He "is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish." 96 His commandment is "that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another." 97 This commandment summarizes all the others and expresses his entire will. Part 4, Section 2, Article 3, SubSection 5, Heading 2 2845 There is no limit or measure to this essentially divine forgiveness, 146 whether one speaks of "sins" as in Luke (11:4), "debts" as in Matthew (6:12). We are always debtors: "Owe no one anything, except to love one another." 147 The communion of the Holy Trinity is the source and criterion of truth in every relation ship. It is lived out in prayer, above all in the Eucharist. 148 God does not accept the sacrifice of a sower of disunion, but commands that he depart from the altar so that he may first be reconciled with his brother. For God can be appeased only by prayers that make peace. To God, the better offering is peace, brotherly concord, and a people made one in the unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 149 Return